Buying replacement S3 abroad

Ginger_Winner

I'm currently travelling through Central America and have had my Samsung Galaxy S3 pick pocketed. Whilst I'm gutted, life is too short to get stressed about these things so have decided to replace it and try not to think about the cost....

I only use the WiFi and GPS elements whilst I'm away, so will be buying an unlocked phone without a SIM.

I'm currently in Nicaragua and I've found a shop that sells them without contract for the same price as the UK.

Obviously I'll need to change the language settings, but I was wondering if there is anything else that I need to take into consideration? Has anyone got any experience of doing this and could there be any potential issues when I get back to the UK and put a UK sim in it?

Advice would be very gratefully received...

grumbler

Ginger_Winner wrote: »

...if there is anything else that I need to take into consideration? ...could there be any potential issues when I get back to the UK and put a UK sim in it?...

Warranty?


GSMarena shows two versions of S3: I9300 and I9305. The latter has 4G but 1900 frequency missing in 3g that makes no difference in UK where only 900 and 1200 are used.

ETA: they also show S3 CDMA for USA, that is unlikely to work in UK, but so is it unlikely to be sold in Nicaragua.

Retrogamer

As above the specs may vary slightly. Some used dual core processors, some used quad core. Some had 1gb of ram, and others had 2gb

Ginger_Winner

Many thanks for the advice. I have a couple more questions. I'm not particularly technically minded so please bear with me if the answers are obvious...

-I purchased my phone about a year ago via a cheap online retailer in the UK. Is it likely that it would have been either a I9300 or I9305?

-I presume that quad core is better than dual core, but is the difference significant and is it likely that my old phone would have either quad or dual core given when I purchased it?

-The biggest benefit for me whilst I'm abroad is using Googlemaps. It's so useful when you are on a bus to somewhere you haven't been to before when you can see where you are. Would this be hindered at all with different models or processors as mentioned above?

grumbler

Ginger_Winner wrote: »

-I purchased my phone about a year ago via a cheap online retailer in the UK. Is it likely that it would have been either a I9300 or I9305?

Unlikely to be 4g enabled a year ago in UK.

-I presume that quad core is better than dual core, but is the difference significant and is it likely that my old phone would have either quad or dual core given when I purchased it?

You could have easily checked at gsmareana that both are quard.
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=4238&idPhone2=5001

I9300 apparently was available in 3 versions: 16/32/64 GB

-The biggest benefit for me whilst I'm abroad is using Googlemaps. It's so useful when you are on a bus to somewhere you haven't been to before when you can see where you are. Would this be hindered at all with different models or processors as mentioned above?

Absolutely not.

Ginger_Winner

Not sure if this is a bit late for a response in this post... hopefully not!

I've got the spec of the S3 that they have here in Nicaragua and it's for the model I747, so not the I9300 or 9305 mentioned above....

The spec from GSMarena is as follows:

Also known as Samsung SGH-I747, Samsung Galaxy S III AT&T
GENERAL 2G Network
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network
HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100
4G Network
LTE 700 MHz Class 17 / 2100
SIM
Micro-SIM
Announced
2012, June
Status
Available. Released 2012, July


I've spent a long time looking at this but am really out of my depth here, but I'm worried that it seems to be a phone made for the US market....

Can anyone see any problems that I might have with using this phone when I'm back in the UK?

SteveHenshaw

I would get something dirt cheap that does what you need and then replace it when you get home. Makes far more sense.

grumbler

Ginger_Winner wrote: »

The spec from GSMarena is as follows:

Also known as Samsung SGH-I747, Samsung Galaxy S III AT&T
GENERAL 2G Network
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network
HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100
4G Network
LTE 700 MHz Class 17 / 2100
SIM
Micro-SIM
Announced
2012, June
Status
Available. Released 2012, July


I've spent a long time looking at this but am really out of my depth here, but I'm worried that it seems to be a phone made for the US market....

Can anyone see any problems that I might have with using this phone when I'm back in the UK?

• Coverage
  
  In UK you need (depending on the network)

3g 900 and 2100
4g 800, 1800, 2600

JJ_Egan

I747 is non UK and US specific .

Phone bought in South America will have no warranty outside that region .Thats even if it is I9300/I9305.
Plus newer SGS3 are now region locked .